Floor cleaning machine



May 28, 1935. F. H. NADIG FLOOR CLEANING MACHINE 2 SheetsSheet 1 Filed July 17, 1934 v '4 MN INVENTOR J7a dig ATTORNEY F. H. NADIG FLOOR CLEANING MACHINE Flled July 17, 1934 May 28, 1935.

ITNESSES Patented May 28, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to floor cleaners, and has for an object to provide an improved construction wherein means are provided for causing water to impinge at a high velocity against a floor to produce a cleaning action.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a floor cleaner which will not only force water against a floor at a high velocity but will provide means for removing the water from the floor, the same including air forced against the floor and then withdrawn to a suitable discharge point.

A further object, more specifically, is to provide a floor cleaner which includes means carrying a supply of Water for cleaning purposes and means for applying the water and then removing the same by the action of a flow of air, the applying means also producing a rubbing or scrubbing action.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a side view of a floor cleaner disclosing an embodiment of the invention, with certain parts broken away for better illustrating the construction;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional View through Fig. 2 approximately on the line 3-3;

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the water and air distributor shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the complete cleaner as shown in Fig. 1, the same being on a reduced scale and illustrating the position of the actuating handle;

Figure 6 is a sectional view through Fig. 1 approximately on the line 66, illustrating the arrangement of pump and associated parts;

Figure 7 is a view similar to the central part of Fig. 3 but illustrating how a brush may be secured to the rotating head.

Referring to the accompanying drawings by numerals, I indicates a water tank which may be rectangular or other shape and preferably open at the top. A metal strip 2 is riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to the sides of the tank I near the bottom and acting as a frame therefor, said frame extending over so as to be riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to a tubular casing 3 containing certain mechanism hereinafter fully described.

A bracing structure 4 is also secured to the casing 3 and to the frame 2. It will be understood that there is a brace 4 on each side of the device, while the frame 2 extends from casing 3, across one side of tank I, across the end thereof, and

back across the other side. As shown in Fig. 2 this frame may be of angle iron so that one flange may extend under the bottom edge portion of the tank I. The tank I will be substantially square in cross section except for the 5 notched portion 5 (Fig. 2) which is provided in order to accommodate certain devices hereinafter fully described.

A handle 6 is riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to the respective braces 4 whereby the device may be pushed or pulled as desired. A reciprocating rod I is carried by the handle 6 and is connected with a bell crank lever so as to swing this lever back and forth and thereby actuate the link 8 which is connected to the arm 9 of the plug ID of valve II. This will permit the operator to open or close the valve or shift the position thereof as desired. This valve is arranged in a pipe I2 which has a depending section I3 projecting into the tank I, as shown in Fig. 1. The pipe I2 also extends over and downwardly along one vertical edge of the tank I so that the lower horizontal section I2 thereof may extend horizontally into the hollow sleeve I4 which is slidably mounted on the enlargement I5 of shaft I6, and also on the tubular extension I! of the distributing head I8, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

As illustrated particularly in Fig. 1, there is provided an electric motor I9 having its shaft 20 extending vertically, said motor being preferably a high speed motor and the enlargement I5 is rigidly secured thereto by suitable set screws 2 I, whereby the shaft I6 rotates at the same speed as the motor. A pulley 22 is connected to the shaft 20 of'the motor and operates a belt 23 which extends over the pulley 22 and also over the pulley 24 which latter pulley is rigidly secured to shaft 25 provided in a suitable bracket 26. The lower end of shaft 25 is connected to the moving parts of the pump 21 which may be of any desired kind as, for instance, the type of pump shown in Fig. 6 which is provided with a casing 28 and a rotor including a blade 29. This acts to draw any water or air from passageway 30 and force the same out through passageway 3| into 45 the vertical pipe 32 which extends upwardly and over tank I so that the lower end thereof 33 may discharge directly into the tank. The horizontal section I3 of pipe I2 supports the sleeve I4 but this sleeve has a rather snug sliding fit with 50 members I5 and I I so that there will be substantially no air and water lost.

Shaft I6 is keyed or otherwise rigidly secured to the member I! which is really a spider secured to the upper end of the distributing head I8.

This head is made up of an upper portion I8" and a lower portion I8", 2. number of plates as indicated at I8 in Fig. 2 in dotted lines, and as shown in Fig. 4. This divides the space between the member I8 and the member I8" into chambers 34 whereby water discharged into the sleeve I4 may move downwardly through these chambers and be discharged out the lower end thereof. The plates I8" may be at any desired angle to the surface or portion I8" and thereby act as a fan or pump so that when the head is rotated at a comparatively high speed there will be produced rarefaction in the head and an impelling action for directing water or air with considerable velocity against the floor or other support to be cleaned.

Adjacent the nozzle part of this discharge end of the chambers 34 there is provided a brush 35 which is spaced slightly from the distributing head I8 but encircles the same and continually engages the floor or other surface being treated. This brush is supported by a baille ring 36 which is rigidly secured to the casing 3. The casing 3 at the lower end extends into and is rigidly secured to a channel iron 31 which acts as an annular reservoir for water or other liquid. A rubber or other cushion 38 is fitted on to this reservoir, as shown in Fig. 1, and rather tightly fits against the fioor or other surface, there being an inclined wall 39 for directing the water upwardly as it leaves the floor. It will be understood that the water moving downwardly strikes the fioor with some velocity and then passes under the brush 35 and upwardly over the wall 39 into the annular reservoir 31. While this is being done the entire device is being pulled or pushed slowly over the fioor and, if desired, may be moved back and forth so that the bristles of brush 35 may produce the desired scrubbing action.

In this connection attention is called to Fig. '7 where a desired form of brush 40 is secured to the head I8 and is adapted to rotate therewith. This form of brush may be used alone or in connection with the brush 35, and when it rotates it will produce a very desirable automatic scrubbing action. The water or other liquid entering the annular reservoir 31 will flow out through the pipe 4| (Fig. 3), through a plurality of screens 42 and into the passageway 30 as indicated in Fig. 6. From this passageway the water is lifted by the pump 21, through pipe 32 and finally discharged out at the open end 33 back into the tank I. This action is continued as long as may be desired in cleaning the fioor or other surface, or until the water in tank I has become so foul that fresh water must be secured.

It will be noted that the screens 42 are each provided with a frame, these frames including the screens being bodily removable at any time for cleaning, repairing or replacement. Electric current for the motor I9 may be led into the motor in any desired manner, and when the parts are functioning the operator merely grasps the handle 6 and moves the device slowly over the floor or back and forth over the part to be cleaned. As the device moves the water circulates as just described and produces a cleaning action. After a desired part of the floor or surface has been treated the operator may pull rod 1 and shift the plug III as shown in Fig. 1, so that the opening IIl' thereon will be opposite the opening I I, and the opening I0" will communicate with that part of the pipe I2 which extends to the sleeve I4, whereby on continued operation of the motor I9 and associated parts air will be drawn in instead of water and this air will be discharged in the same manner as the water, namely, against the surface of the floor near the brush 35. This will cause the loose water to be propelled upwardly into the annular container 31, and will also take up the water through evaporation. Any water in a liquid state which is in the container 31 will be taken care of by the pump 21, but the water in the air will be carried by the air through the pump 21'and discharged out through the opening or end 33 as if it was water. This air action may be carried out as long as desired so as to completely take up all the water from the floor and leave the floor dry to the touch.

From Figs. 1 and 2 it will be noted that the clamping nut I6 acts to clamp the upper end of the part I8" to hold the same tightly against the wedge of blade I8. If desired, these blades may be soldered or otherwise rigidly secured to members I8 and I8". As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 there are provided a pair of caster wheels 43 which are shown as being connected to the casing 3 though they could be connected to some other part without departing from the spirit of the invention. These casters are arranged midway of the device and the tank I is normally spaced above the floor. When the tank I is substantially filled with water, as shown in Fig. 1, the device is rather evenly balanced on the caster wheels 43, but the forward end carrying the head I8 is slightly heavier so that the rubber member 33 will fit snugly against the floor. By pressing downwardly on the handle 6 the forward end may be tilted up at any time, the wheels 43 acting as fulcrums.

When the device is operating to clean a floor or other surface the parts are positioned substantially as shown in Fig. 1, but whenever desired the tube I3 may be swung out of the tank I and the tank moved off the frame 2 for dumping and cleaning. Preferably this tank merely rests on the frame 2 and remains thereon under the action of gravity. If it should be secured by a rivet or otherwise it could not be removed but the parts would function in the same manner, except that the tank could not be removed readily for cleaning. However, the tube I3 is provided with a sleeve 45 which is readily mounted on the pipe I2, which pipe has an opening 46 so as to provide proper registry with tube I3 when the same is extending downwardly.

I claim:

1. A floor cleaner including a rotating water distributing head. an annular brush positioned around the discharge end of the head and in contact with the surface against which the head is adapted to project liquid, an annular trough arranged around said brush, said trough being open at the top, a sealing member carried by said trough and positioned to rest on the surface being cleaned whereby the water discharged from said head must pass beneath and between the bristles of said brush and then upwardly into said trough, a tank for supplying water to said head, a pump for removing the water from said trough and directing it into said tank, and a prime mover for rotating said head at the same time that the pump is operated.

2. A floor cleaner including a liquid distributing head adapted to be positioned very close to the surface to be cleaned, said head having passageways extending therethroughwith discharge orifices near the surface to be cleaned, and blades acting as a pump for producing rarefaction when functioning, a prime mover for moving said head including said blades at a higher rate of speed to produce rarefaction, a tank adapted to contain liquid, tubular means providing communication between said head and said tank whereby rarefaction produced by said head will draw liquid from said tank, trough shaped means for receiving the liquid after it has engaged the floor or other surface to be cleaned, a pump for receiving and directing said liquid back to said tank, means for connecting said pump and said prime mover so that the pump will be operated in unison with said head, and a valve structure for shutting off the communication between said head and said tank and opening communication with the atmosphere whereby air may be drawn in by said head and discharged out through said pump, said air removing by force and evaporation the water remaining on the surface be cleaned.

head, an annular brush positioned to surround said head but spaced slightly therefrom and pro jecting slightly therebelow, an annular trough U- shaped in cross section spaced radially opposite from said brush, a rubber cushion member substantially U-shaped in cross section straddlin said trough from the lower side upwardly and acting as a sealing member for engaging the floor when the device is in operation; a prime mover for rotating said head, a pump for receiving water from said trough, means connecting the pump with the prime mover so that the pump will act in unison with said head and tubular means connected with the pump for directing the liquid from said trough back to its source of pp y.

FRANCIS H. NADIG. 

